Player Profile: Frenkie de Jong

Barcelona have been busy this January transfer window and they have made their biggest signing in beating Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to sign Ajax and Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong. The highly-rated 21 year old have been sort after for a while now with Ajax in a title race in the Eredivise and are in the knockout stages of the Champions League. So who is Frenkie de Jong?

Frenkie de Hong was born on May 12th, 1997 in Arkel, Netherlands. De Jong started off his player career in Willem II where he played in the youth setup before making his  Eredivise debut against ADO Den Haag in May 2015. Later that year, he moved to Ajax Amsterdam where he has made just 42 appearances in the Eredivise for the Dutch giants but has built such interest from the European giants like Barcelona and Manchester City.

De Jong plays in central midfield but can play defensive midfield as well as centre-back highlighting his versatility. De Jong is a comfortable passer of the ball but is a highly effective dribbler. Last season in the Eredivise, he made an average of 3.1 successful dribbles per 90 and was dispossessed just 0.7 times per game. His dribbling is important for Ajax in their ball progression deep from midfield and beating the press from opposition with his movement.

His passing is an underrated part of his game as many talk more about his dribbling. According to Squawka, De Jong had a pass completion rate of 92% with 1.84 chances created and 1.44 key passes per game last season. His defensive play is also very strong with 1.7 tackles and 1.1 interceptions last season.

An intelligent and technically gifted player beyond his years and already has sparked comparisons with Sergio Busquets, Frank Rijkaard and Franz Beckenbauer for his tremendous skill set that very few young players and it's no wonder Barça payed the big bucks for him. For more on De Jong, here is a tactical analysis from TifoFootball